Lighting The Road To The Future
“Ten Years Later” Sheds Light on Post Katrina New Orleans “The People’s Paper”
Data Zone Page 7
August 29 - September 4, 2015 50th Year Volume 18 www.ladatanews.com A Data News Weekly Exclusive
Data News Weekly Honors Donald Chopin
Derek Rabb
Karl Washington
Shareef Cousin
Tyra Barabino
Karen Hence
Kendal Francis
Alexis Sakari
Harold Baquet
Bill Summers
Kourtney Heart
James Andrews
The 2014 - 2015 Trailblazers of the Month Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things Page 2
Home Style Preparing for Your Fall Plantings
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Trailblazer
Erica Murray
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Cover Story
August 29 - September 4, 2015
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Data News Weekly Honors
The 2014 - 2015 Trailblazers of the Month Each month, Data News Weekly takes time out to honor those individuals who are doing extraordinar y things in our community. Often times, with few resources, these dynamic persons make
wonder ful things happen for people who need a hand up, a leg up, an ear to listen, a voice to guide or just a friend to lean on. We recognize them for their outstanding commitment to our commu-
nity and for their time and ef for ts to make New Orleans a better place for all, Data News Weekly says “Thank You” we salute and present to you, the 2014- 2015 Trailblazers of the Month.
May 31, 2014
Donald Chopin By Edwin Buggage Donald Chopin calls himself a “Community Builder,” an all-encompassing term that deals with improving the whole of humanity. “I call myself a community builder; it is something I prefer that I feel more accurately describes what I do. I feel a community is about helping all human beings regardless of race, creed, color and people’s background, it is about working together doing the right thing and trying to better humanity.” Chopin is active in several organizations aimed at helping people especially those who are imprisoned or formerly incarcerated. “I am presently involved in V.O.T.E Voice of the Ex-Offender, OPRC Orleans Parish Reform Coalition, making improvements in our parish jail; also the Peacekeepers, who are concerned about cleaning up our neighborhoods around issues of crime and promoting empowerment in the community.”
Cover Story, Continued on next page.
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June 28, 2014
Derek Rabb
Derek Rabb is someone who works in a selfless manner giving back to his community. He is a man who has taken it as his charge to work to better the lives of those of his native City New Orleans. As the City found itself drowning during Hurricane Katrina, much wreckage was left in its midst. Of the many things that were problematic was what we would do with regard to the public schools. Rabb, is a person who is committed to educating the youth of the City and worked to help open Andrew H. Wilson Charter School in the Broadmoor area,
“I am glad to see our kids have a state of the art quality school that will not just service the kids in the Broadmoor neighborhood, but kids throughout the City.” In addition he also is involved in work raising funds for his alma mater St. Augustine raising funds for scholarships. Rabb is a member of the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club, where in 2014 he was the Witch Doctor character. While many know the organization for their parade and ball during the Mardi Gras season, they do work throughout the year helping those in need.
July 27, 2014
Karl Washington Karl Washington is a man who is known around town for organizing major events through his company Culture Shock International that has for over two decades put on major events across the globe. But what many do not know is that he is also a man who continues to make a difference in the lives of young people. Harkening back to his background growing up in public housing and his work in social service as the places where his commitment to young people begin to take shape. For many years he has volunteered his time coaching sports and working with young kids in a program he designed to help them with self-development, in addition to life and job skills. “I coach basketball and baseball at Sampson Playground, located in the upper Ninth Ward. I also mentor youth around the City.” Continuing he says, “My goal is to empower young people, so I also produce an event called the NOLA Global Youth Week. It consists of a six week training curriculum and a weeklong schedule of events centered on youth.
Cover Story, Continued on page 4.
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Cover Story/ Continued from page 3.
August 30, 2014
Shareef Cousin By Edwin Buggage Shareef Cousin is someone whose name made headlines in the mid -1990’s as a 16 yearold was wrongly convicted of a murder in the French Quarter and was the youngest person in the world at the time on death row. After being incarcerated for 11 years he has turned lemons into lemonade by dedicating his life to helping young people and formerly incarcerated persons obtain the
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tools to be successful in life. He has become a guide helping to navigate those who sometimes get loss by the traps of apathy, poverty and broken homes. “The reason I chose to reach back because I know I would not be where I am today if people didn’t help me. This is giving me the opportunity to live again and for me to have gone through I understand some of the struggles some of our young people go through and feel it is my duty and purpose
to help them,” says Cousin. In 2006 he co-founded Resurrection after Exoneration in addition to working for the Southern Center for Human Rights where he was a community organizer fighting for criminal justice reform. As he was doing his work in the community he saw there was a greater need that was not being met so he started Beacon Industries to help at-risk young men.
September 27, 2014
Tyra Barabino
By Edwin Buggage Tyra Barabino has become a face that many know as an actress and writer featured in commercials, films, radio and television. But what lies true to her heart is helping young people reach their true potential. She is one who has throughout her life been a selfless giver. “I have always been involved with the community
reaching back and helping kids. It doesn’t matter which environment you’ve come from, we all can find ways to give back. I think it is everyone’s responsibility to find a way to give back to others,” says Barabino. She has worked with young girls in a variety of capacities over the years at NORD (New Orleans Recreation Department) playgrounds, commu-
nity centers, in her church and throughout the community mentoring and teaching life skills that for many are life changing experiences. “I have always volunteered helping young girls bringing them to different places and showing them how to become women and also how not to get involved in some of the negative things that would keep them from reaching the goals they aspire to.” Speaking of the many life enhancing experiences she’s given young girls she feels these things can broaden their horizons and help defy and combat the myth that your destiny is defined by your immediate environment, “Some say you are a product of your environment, but I would beg to dif fer, I feel it is impor tant to take young people out of negative circumstances and put them in places where they can see a dif ferent way of life. With this they can see that there is always a way out and that you can make it out of any situation.” Cover Story/Continued on page 5
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October 25, 2014
Karen Hence
November 29, 2015
Kendal Francis
By Edwin Buggage Kendal Francis is a person who has dedicated his life to serving others. He has become for many young people the bridge between simply surviving and thriving. He has always been involved in giving back and performing community service, winning several awards such as the Jay Stein Caring Award
in 1995, or working to ensure the rights of women while a student at Tulane University as a member of Tulane Men Against Rape. This passion led him to start working with young people in the New Orleans Metro Area on a voluntary basis. Kendal began volunteering his time mentoring young people that participated in the Reconcile New Orleans Program. He ar-
ranged field trips and designed programs that assisted program participants in realizing their full potential while using his personal resources to fund his organization, Blessed 26. “ I feel our kids need to be given the foundation they need to build a solid foundation for their lives that they do not fall through the cracks of society but rather on a path to success. That is the reason I created Blessed 26,” says Francis. Francis also serves as a life coach for athletes at Warren Easton High School where he works with young student athletes helping them navigate the course to a successful life. Speaking of his work as a life coach he says, “I put what you want to do in front of you and say go get it and make you accountable in making it happen.”
December 27, 2014
Alexis Sakari
By Edwin Buggage Karen Hence is known by many as someone who is an expert in the field of public relations. Where her job is to “toot” the horn creating visibility and promoting the work of others; but what many do not know is that she is a woman filled with a heart of gold who is dedicated to giving back to many causes in her community. “I donate time and services to non-profits as well as speaking to the youth at schools and churches. I feel that it is imperative that all businesses, whether large or small, leave something positive behind for future gen-
erations, whether it’s donating time, money or sharing knowledge. It’s the least we can do! I would be remiss if I didn’t practice what I preach,” says Hence.” Over the years she’s worked hard to become a major force in the world of PR and her success is an inspiration to many, but especially young AfricanAmerican women. Hence is someone who is dedicated to teaching and reaching the next generation. “I take time out to speak with and mentor young girls every chance I get because it is important that we give them the foundation they need to have a bright future.”
By Edwin Buggage Alexis Sakari uses multiple platforms in entertainment and education to help those in need; she is President and Chief Executive Officer of a Drama Kings
and Queens, local non-profit that provides a platform for performing artists to develop their skills. Since 2013, Drama Kings and Queens Performing Arts Club, Inc. has been actively training current artists and advising
upcoming artists in music, acting, and script writing. Sakari says, “Being the Drama Club President prior to graduating from Southern University at New Orleans redirected my focus toward the many talented performing artists of all ages residing within the City of New Orleans. These artists only need a new positive stage to practice their crafts to advance their entertainment career to the next level in addition to give them life skills that can help them throughout their lives.” Sakari’s has taken her time to work with women who are at their most vulnerable time. It is something that is making the news right now as a result of the Ray Rice incident, and that is domestic abuse. This is something she is on the frontlines combating; spending her time working with victims in battered women’s shelters. Throughout the year Sakari leads drives to collect clothes and toiletries for distribution to these shelters.
Cover Story/Continued on page 9
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Preparing for Your Fall Plantings The RTA is dedicated to building and operating a safe, efficient, and effective transportation system that provides mobility, improves the quality of life, and stimulates economic development. Core principles of the RTA include dedication to rigorous safety practices, top-quality customer service, efficient use of resources and ensuring that the service is assessable for the disabled community and senior citizens. Every day the employees of the RTA strive to fulfil this mission so that together, we are
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With cooler weather hopefully around the corner, now is a good time to start thinking about plant material for your fall landscape. A great place to start your research is through your local county extension service. Most extension services select “Super Plants” for the spring and fall in your specific planting zone. “Super Plants” are plants that have trialed successfully over a two-year period in your planting zone and have proved to be sturdy as well as easy care. The LSU AgCenter, the extension agency for the state of Louisiana, has selected the Homestead Purple verbena and the Leslie Ann camellia as the Louisiana Super Plants for Fall 2015.
Homestead Purple verbena Even with an avalanche of new varieties on the market, the Homestead Purple verbena is still the best perennial verbena for the Louisiana landscape. Rich purple blooms cover a threefoot-wide canopy of foliage twice annually. The peak bloom time being midwinter until late spring (mid-February through May) and then another flowering during fall. The trailing habit of this plant makes it a lovely ground cover. Although perennial, verbenas are generally planted in spring but we need to consider fall and winter planting of perennial verbenas for best performance the first year. This is the reason we are promoting Home-
stead Purple as a fall Louisiana Super Plant. In the landscape, spacing between plants should be 18 inches at planting, and the plants should be sheared occasionally to bring back nice, new foliage growth. They should be fertilized at planting and in each spring. Verbenas need full sun and well-drained soil for best success.
Leslie Ann camellia Leslie Ann is a Camellia sasanqua that is popular in Louisiana and has been a longtime proven performer in Louisiana landscapes. These plants need a mostly sunny to partly sunny area and prefer acid, welldrained soil. The flower petals are bi-colored and sometimes tri-colored with blends of pink, blush and white. Leslie Ann is mostly an upright growing camellia that will mature at 8 feet tall in the landscape. These plants are early-season bloomers usually starting in late October and continuing until mid or late December. All Louisiana Super Plants are “university tested and industry approved.” The Fall 2015 selections, as well as all the past selections, can be relied on to make great, colorful cool-season Louisiana landscapes. Sources: http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/communications/publications/agmag/ Archive/2015/Winter/GreatNew-Selections-of-LouisianaSuper-Plants-for-2015.htm
Check out my “Gardening Tip of the Week” at www.thegardeningdiva.com
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August 29 - September 4, 2015
New Orleans Recovery Or Removal Ten Years Later, Post Katrina New Orleans
By Jordan Flaherty Ten years after Hurricane Katrina, a new documentary from The Laura Flanders Show explores the race, class and gender outlines of the reconstruction of New Orleans. At least seventy-one billion dollars in federal money has been spent. But has every opportunity been seized to bring back not just the place, but its people, so they’re stronger and healthier than before? We explore, from the grassroots, systemic changes in housing, economic development, and policing. How have federal, state and city policies affected the people of New Orleans? Lieutenant General Russell Honoré was put in charge of military rescue efforts after Hurricane Katrina. What he saw was a man-made disaster, caused by politicians under control of the oil and gas industry. “Our problem is, because of the damage that has been left by the oil and gas industry, we have less wetlands today than we had 20 years ago,” he says. “It’s been supported by Congress, multiple presidents in the White House, and all our governors. We are the second largest energy producer in America and we’re the second poorest state. The state has been looted. “We’ve got 52% unemployment as it relates to AfricanAmerican males, but we’re experiencing an economic boom,” explains New Orleans city council president Jason Williams. “Our major industry is tourism; hospitality, restaurants, hotels, motels. The folks who are working those jobs in the kitchen, making up the beds, cooking the food, those folks are the working poor in this town. It’s just for generations they have not shared in the revenue in those industries.”
Oliver Thomas was city council president at the time of Katrina, and was on track to be the city’s next mayor, until he went to federal prison for accepting bribes. He says that the recovery took the wrong direction from the beginning. “Our mayor and too many of our business people wanted a market based recovery, and that’s what we got. We should have fought for a communitybased recovery. We should have brought our working class people back, set up temporary housing, schools, and medical for them, then build from there. Since we didn’t do that, that’s why we’re struggling, that’s why a ten year recovery will probably end up being a twenty, for some, if it every happens.” Sean Cummings, a developer that has helped reshape New Orleans’ downtown, takes a different perspective. He says that the city is improving. “I think the city’s brand has been extended worldwide, even more deeply into the consciousness of people than it had been before,” he says. “All sorts of young people coming here, filmmakers, furniture makers, glass casters, folks in the film industry, entrepreneur startup companies, they want to live in these historic neighborhoods.” He says rising rents are a sign of an improving economy. “I think you just have to look at it a little bit perhaps broader geographic perspective where folks are displaced. Where actually are they displaced? Does it not make it a more robust community?” Toya Lewis is part of an organization called Stand With Dignity that has been fighting for jobs and opportunities for New Orleans poorest residents. As a former public housing resident, Toya says that her former community was torn down in the name of profit. “The deData Zone, Continued on page 10.
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Trailblazer
August 29 - September 4, 2015
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Erica Murray Inspiring Young People to Take Over the World by: Edwin Buggage This month’s Trailblazer is a woman who has for over two decades been an entrepreneur transacting businesses globally and establishing an impressive clientele, through her mortgage brokerages (Texas), real estate brokerages (Texas and Georgia), real estate developer enterprise (Texas and Jamaica), garment manufacture company (Panyu, China), global radio show host of a “top hit” radio show on iHeart radio (also syndicated in 10 cities) and international business consultant. She possesses’ very strong business acumen coupled with structure and discipline, which has guided both her business and personal life. Erica has become a well sought after global business consultant because of her distinguished, exceptional, and innovative business techniques. Dr. Murray has been recognized by her colleagues for having extraordinary determination and is known for her creativity, motivation and her ability to secure a deal. She is a successful businesswoman who can enjoy in the spoils of her success. But she feels it is her duty to give back and serve others. Reflecting back on her beginning as a young girl growing up in the St. Bernard Housing Project in New Orleans, and through hard work and the support of others today she is and
entrepreneur traveling the globe and inspiring the next generation. She feels this is essential for the African-American community to prosper. “I think it is important and that is our corporate social responsibility, because the driving forces for me are if I don’t prepare a generation to lead who is going be able to advocate for our community. Also with giving I am honoring those people who poured into me and that is what we are supposed to do is to serve others and give them the tools to be successful. I want to be able to be part of the solutions to the problems in our community that is why I give back,” says of her commitment to serving her community by inspiring the youth. She is not only a business person, but an educator, volunteering her time to teaching young people by giving them the tools to build a foundation for future success. “I am a Jr. Achievement volunteer; I go to high schools and middle schools and talk about financial literacy, success and entrepreneurship. I want African-American kids to know that those are options for the. That they can not only just have jobs but start businesses as well. I speak to college students and try to break them out of the mindset that they have to wait until
they finish college to become what it is they want to become that is a myth.” New Orleans and Baton Rouge often ranked among the top cities in the country for new HIV cases among African-Americans. This is something that is of concern to Murray, as she is involved in outreach projects to hopefully stop the spread from further weakening the community. “In addition to my work teaching financial literacy I also work with people in the community in educating people about HIV and AIDS. It is something that is very prevalent in the
New Orleans and Baton Rouge in the minority communities. I think we must get a hold on this deadly disease because it is something that’s reached epidemic propor-
tions, something that is affecting all of us.” Reflecting on her life, she feels like passing on her knowledge and her story is important. It is far too often that young African-Americans do not look at their lives beyond their immediate environment. They often suffer from the affliction of low aspirations and settle for mediocrity. Murray is trying to work to change that perception among young people, telling them that they can do and be anything they aspire to if they expand their world view and are willing to do the things necessary to become a success in whatever they endeavor into. “When I do my classes I talk about success beyond limit, and that is beyond their mind. I want them to understand that it is important to branch yourself out and become global. You are on the internet that you should use it in other ways to reach out and understand what is going on around the
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world. Expand your capacity to understand and think about things from a global perspective.” She says that some whether they are in business or not sometimes do not have the four things she feel is essential to her success and others she’s mentored. “What has gotten me where I am I feel is that I am coachable, teachable and trainable if you have those three things. I learned from others lose my ego, I stood at their feet and learned and understanding the value of information.” Erica A. Murray is a woman whose life is a testimony that hard work pays off. That a young girl coming from a housing project in New Orleans that shows that a flower can grow out of concrete. And today she is inspiring the next generation to see the world beyond their immediate view, giving them what they need not just to become the future of New Orleans but anywhere on the globe.
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January 31, 2015
Harold Baquet
By Edwin Buggage January’s Trailblazer highlighted the life of the late Harold Baquet and served as a portrait of man who spent his life helping those in need. He said it was out of respect for those who came before him that contributed to his being successful and was the reason he gaves back. “I realize that none of us have gotten
where we are by ourselves. That there have been parent’s teachers, family members and others who’ve helped us along the way; and it is our responsibility to do the same for others.” He was a man who lived a passion filled life; guiding young people while working at Loyola University in addition to encouraging people when choosing a career find something that they love. “When I am around young people I tell them try to do something that you love, find something that you are passionate about and would do for free and figure out how to make a living at it.” In his career as a photographer he was able to be on the frontlines of change in the po-
March 28, 2015
Kourtney Heart
litical and social landscape of the city, something that greatly affected his outlook in regard to service. “I learned a lot working with Ernest “Dutch” Morial as the city photographer during his second term. He was a great man. He was with someone who knew Dr. King and was connected to and was responsible for doing so much for society. Having an opportunity to work with him I saw his genius, and as he served others and he expected all of us to serve and give back.” Harold Baquet was a man who was the picture of success and service and Data News Weekly is honored to have honored him justly, as our Trailblazer for the Month of January 2015.
February 28, 2015
Bill Summers
By Edwin Buggage Bill Summers is known to most as a percussionist and multi-instrumentalist who has contributed music that has won Emmys, Grammys and many other awards. In his decades long career his resume of collaborations read like a who’s
who in music: Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Irvin Mayfield and many others in addition to releasing his own music. Today he is using his musical gifts to give back to young people through his organization NUMM. “The New Urban Music Movement (NUMM), is an organization that helps young players in pursuit of careers in music. He’s also created another program aimed at local youth; The Klub K.I.D. (Knowledge Independence and Determination) Project is something that will focus on the recording and business side of the industry at area high schools.” He recalls playing on the
epic mini-series “Roots” score and soundtrack, “I played the first sounds on “Roots” that is the Bata. Speaking of the importance of the music played in “Roots” pointing to the drums he played during the recording sessions. “These are the Bata Drums, the first one is the mother, it is the biggest drum, it talks the most and represents the womb and it leads, the other drum is the father they converse but never on top of each other, and the small drum is the child, it plays a simple pattern. When a young man learns to play the drums he understands the importance of family. These are the kind of lessons that’s slipped into the dust that anchored us.” 4
By Edwin Buggage Many may know Kourtney Heart as a talented young singer who blazed upon the scene as a teenage sensation who a few years ago, scored a hit record “My Boy” featuring the late Magnolia Shorty. She later signed to Jive Records and did a remix of “My Boy” featuring Soulja Boy. She is a true talent as an entertainer but what many do not know is that she has a heart of gold and is dedicated to giving back to the community. Whether one desires to be or not when one is in the public space people look up to them. While some feel they do not have a responsibility to be a role model Heart feels it is im-
portant to align herself with causes that uplift and inspire people. Earlier this year, Heart teamed up with Pinkberry to help raise money for a wonderful foundation for young girls called PINKHouse. I was truly proud to be involved because I am a product of a youth program myself. That’s how I started singing,” says Heart. “I have to be honest, because I know there are young girls watching the things I do. I do try to be careful of what I choose to display publicly. But at the same time, I just try to stay grounded and as honest as I could be. Growing up, I lived vicariously through people I admired. So, I hope I’m being a positive light to all the women who admire me,” says Heart.
Cover Story/Continued on page 11
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August 29 - September 4, 2015
State & Local News
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President Obama to Observe Katrina’s 10th Anniversary in New Orleans Almost 10 years ago, the world watched as the waters of the Gulf of Mexico—urged on by the pummeling winds of Hurricane Katrina and the ensuing levee breaks swallowed the city of New Orleans, and wreaked havoc all up and down the coast. On Aug. 27, President Obama will travel to the Crescent City to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of this costliest and one of the deadliest natural disasters to hit the United States and to highlight the city’s efforts to rebuild. The president will be joined by Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate in meeting with Mayor Mitch Landrieu and residents of affected neighborhoods. Fugate and other FEMA officials will also attend commemoration events in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas
in the days leading up to the anniversary. Officials from several other agencies, including the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. Department of Education, the Small Business Administration and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) will also tour the region as part of the observance. Hurricane Katrina crashed into the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, 2005. The punishing winds destroyed trees, buildings and other property, but most of the damage—especially in New Orleans, where its levees failed—came from the resulting floods. The disaster caused more than $100 billion in damage and took about 2,000 lives. “We all remember it keenly: water pouring through broken
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(Pictured above) President Obama stopped in New Orleans to speak to residents about the damage from Hurricane Isaac on Sept. 4, 2012. He will return to New Orleans on Thursday to pay tribute to the 10th Hurricane Katrina Memorial.
levees; mothers holding their children above the waterline; people stranded on rooftops begging for help; bodies lying in the streets of a great American city,” Obama recalled during a speech on the storm’s fifth anniversary in 2010. He added, “It was a natural disaster but also a manmade catastrophe – a shameful breakdown in government that left countless men, and women, and children abandoned and alone.” This year, the president is expected to discuss his administration’s as well as state and local efforts to rebuild in the region. And, according to Time magazine, he may likely also note potential links between super storms like Katrina and climate change—a key focus area of the Obama White House.
Data Zone, Continued from page 7.
velopers wanted to tear down public housing for money. It’s money, it’s greed. It has nothing to do with humanity or beautifying anything, because if that was the case, they could have replaced what existed,” she says. “One of the biggest things that’s necessary in decriminalizing blackness is creating a equitable economy,” she adds. The film is produced and directed by Jordan Flaherty and executive produced by Laura Flanders and teleSUR English. Story producer is Marin Sander Holzman; camera by Joshua J. Bagnall, Melisa Cardona, Jonathan Klett, Abdul Aziz, and CrossPond Productions. Edited by
Anna Barsan, Rebecca Scheckman and Jonathan Klett. Score by Drop Electric, with additional music by TBC Brass Band. Translation by Cynthia Garza. Featuring interviews with Lieutenant General Russel Honoré, the commander of military relief operations during Katrina; former New Orleans city council president Oliver Thomas; current city council president Jason Williams; developer Sean Cummings; activists and former public housing residents Alfred Marshall and Toya Lewis; Brice White of the Jane Place Neighborhood Sustainability Initiative; spoken word artist Asia
Rainey; youth activist Milan Nicole Sherry; and Rosana Cruz of Race Forward. Also featuring Roy Brumfield, Leticia Casildo, Jolene Elberth, Fernando Lopez, Darnell Parker, Glenn Ross, Randy Silliman, BreakOUT!, Congreso de Jornaleros, Jane Place Neighborhood Sustainability Initiative, Oya Market, Ping Chong + Company, and STAND With Dignity. Jordan Flaherty is a journalist and TV producer based in New Orleans. He is a producer of The Laura Flanders Show and the author of Floodlines: Community and Resistance from Katrina to the Jena Six. You can see more of his work at jordanflaherty.org.
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State & Local News
August 29 - September 4, 2015
Walmart To Distribute Water To K10 Volunteers Walmart announced this week its plans to distribute water, supplies to K10 Citywide Day of Service volunteers. Participants will gather at supercenter drop-off locations prior to anniversary event where two 18-wheelers packed with t-shirts, water and supplies will be stationed Wednesday at two Walmart Supercenter locations to distribute items to volunteers for the K10 Citywide Day of Service event. Walmar t is the title sponsor of the City of New Orleans’s Citywide Day of Ser vice, which will engage thousands of volun-
teers from across the countr y on Aug. 29 for more than 100 individual projects. Following Hurricane Katrina, Walmart provided immediate support and emergency relief through its local stores and its disaster relief capabilities. Walmart recently opened two new stores in Gentilly and New Orleans East, both of which employ hundreds of full- and part-time associates. The Citywide Day of Service will further Walmart’s pledge to supporting volunteerism and community resilience.
Cover Story/ Continued from page 9.
April 25, 2015
James Andrews By Edwin Buggage Many know James Andrews as a great trumpeter, singer and all around entertainer, but what many do not know is that he uses his talent to help many causes around the City of New Orleans. “I work with the Armstrong Family Foundation helping the families who are in need of all kinds of services. We do a fundraiser ever y year that I perform at and I am also involved in some of their outreach projects and I do whatever I can to help,” says Andrews of one of many organizations he works with lending his talent and time to ser ving those in need.
Louisiana has one of the highest death rates from cancer in the country. This is a concern of Andrews’ so he lends his time with the Copeland Foundation, named for businessman and Popeye’s Founder Al Copeland who died from Cancer in 2008. “I work with the Copeland Foundation that helps fund local cancer research and I know people whose lives have been cut short from cancer. It always feels good to use my talent to help people in need.” Andrews also uses his position as a celebrity to speak to the next generation about staying in school and surrounding themselves with the right people as they climb the ladder to success.
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It’s time to celebrate our 49th Anniversary
Data News Weekly 49 TH ANNIVERSARY
Come help us celebrate almost 50 years of Publishing and to honor our Trailblazers: May 2014 – Donald Chopin
September 2014 – Tyra Barabino
January 2015 – Harold Baquet
June 2014 – Derek Rabb
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February 2015 – Bill Summers
July 2014 – Karl Washington
November 2014 – Kendal Francis
March 2015 – Kourtney Heart
August 2014 – Shareef Cousin
December 2014 – Alexis Sakari
April 2015 – James Andrews
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